Wu mentioned that using Mei Lin's blood could expel the Gu worms in one go, but doing so would leave permanent scars due to the numerous worm holes in her body. Thus, they had to remove the worms one by one, which would take more time.
No one questioned his words or decisions.
At this point, Murong Jing He displayed considerable patience. To distract Luo Mei, he kept chatting with her, bringing up various topics. They had fought side by side for years and had been entangled in each other's lives for over a decade, so there was plenty to talk about. But as these conversations had nothing to do with Mei Lin, she quickly closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. Though she didn't want to admit it, she couldn’t deny feeling a pang of jealousy. But she also knew it was unreasonable to feel that way. He wasn’t hers, and his attentiveness to his future wife was none of her business.
Just as she was about to doze off, she suddenly felt her face burning as if it were being scorched by the sun. She opened her eyes in confusion and found herself staring into Murong Jing He’s angry gaze.
Having been rebuffed by General Luo Mei again, have we? she mused, feeling a bit smug but making sure not to show it. She averted her gaze, yawned, and tried to catch some more sleep.
Murong Jing He needed a great deal of self-control to resist going over to her and causing a scene after being blatantly ignored. However, he wasn’t able to stay angry for long. An urgent military report from Nanyue forced him to leave midway through the session. When he returned, his demeanor had changed drastically—no longer the carefree prince, he now bore a stern and determined expression.
"The two brothers of the Nanyue King who escaped have allied with Xiyan and are leading an army to besiege the Nanyue capital. Qing Yan is trapped and outnumbered. I must leave immediately," he said, addressing Luo Mei, who was looking at him with concern. Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked into the dressing room.
So, he’s leaving, Mei Lin thought, lowering her eyes. She then recalled something that had been weighing on her mind and turned to Wu.
"Wu, you mentioned that he has the aura of the Junzi Gu?" She had intended to ask if he was also infected with the Gu but thought better of it, reasoning that it was unlikely, or else Wu wouldn’t have mentioned the possibility of the Gu transferring to him.
Wu, busy removing the Gu from Luo Mei, simply nodded in response without speaking.
"Is there any danger?" Mei Lin asked, pressing for more information.
"No harm. The aura was transferred during your… interaction. It will slightly increase his internal energy but is not fatal," Wu replied gently, his tone reassuring.
Mei Lin hadn’t expected such bluntness, and her ears turned bright red. She deliberately ignored the sharp glance from beside her, pursing her lips and remaining silent.
A moment later, Murong Jing He emerged, fully dressed. Mei Lin kept her eyes lowered, listening as he bid farewell to Luo Mei. Despite feeling the burn of his gaze on her, she didn’t look up even once, not until his hurried footsteps receded into the distance. They would inevitably part ways for good, so there was no need to long for one last look.
After Murong Jing He left, Wu continued to remove the Gu from Luo Mei’s body at a steady pace. These two women, who had never been on good terms, were now forced to share the same pool during the day and the same room at night. However, due to the exhaustion brought on by the Gu removal process, Luo Mei had neither the energy nor the inclination to trouble Mei Lin, who naturally refrained from provoking her. Thus, the two managed to coexist peacefully for over twenty days. During this time, Mei Lin’s Junzi Gu remained active, rapidly consuming her life force. If not for Wu’s daily concoctions to stimulate her life energy, she would have already succumbed. Even so, Mei Lin could feel her body slowly deteriorating. But with Luo Mei present, she never dared to ask Wu about it.
Sometimes, when she awoke in the middle of the night, Mei Lin couldn’t help but think that Wu’s assurances of no life-threatening danger were just lies. But deep down, she knew that even if it meant risking her life, she had no other choice. It was just that accepting it made her feel even more desolate.
Since Yue Qin didn’t accompany Murong Jing He to Nanyue, he visited Mei Lin every day to keep her company and chat.
One day, when almost all the Gu worms had been removed from Luo Mei’s body, leaving not a single worm hole behind, she looked as if she had been given a new layer of skin, becoming so beautiful that it was almost impossible to gaze directly at her.
Wu extracted the yarrow stems from Mei Lin’s acupuncture points, then cut her wrist and collected a bowl of blood for Luo Mei to drink. Wu explained that this was the only way to completely eradicate the Gu poison in her body.
After drinking it, Luo Mei began to vomit violently.
Mei Lin lay on her bed, listening to the sound of someone retching so hard it seemed as if their intestines were turning inside out. Her vision darkened repeatedly. It wasn’t until a small head appeared in front of her, speaking to her in a quiet voice, that she began to regain some awareness.
"Sister, are you okay?" Yue Qin asked anxiously, seeing how pale Mei Lin’s face was and how lifeless her skin appeared.
Mei Lin mustered her strength and signaled for Yue Qin to bring his ear closer to her lips.
“Listen to me, no crying,” she whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Her words had the opposite effect, and Yue Qin’s eyes immediately welled up with tears. But when he saw the stern look in her eyes, he held back his tears and reluctantly nodded, bringing his ear closer again.
“If... I mean, if I die... and you dare to cry, you’ll never see me again!” Mei Lin barely finished saying the word “die” when she saw Yue Qin’s mouth quiver, and she had to sternly scold him to stop. Seeing him hold back, she continued, “If I die, and you’re not afraid of the trouble, take me back to Jingbei... find a place that blooms with spring flowers, and bury me there.”
Yue Qin remained silent, tears falling down his cheeks and onto Mei Lin’s face. She pretended not to notice and calmly went on, “Don’t bother with a coffin... just bury me like that.”
“Instead of being confined in a wooden box in the ground, I’d rather be part of the earth and help a field of spring flowers grow. At least that way, I’ll get to share in their light...” She said the last part with a playful tone. But the more she tried to be lighthearted, the more Yue Qin couldn’t stand it. He suddenly stood up and yelled, “I hate it when you say things like that!” before storming out.
Mei Lin sighed helplessly, knowing he had probably gone somewhere to cry his heart out. She ignored the puzzled look Luo Mei gave her and slowly closed her eyes, gripping the knife she had secretly taken from the boy.
Logically, Luo Mei should have left immediately, now that she was completely cured. However, she didn’t.
That night, they still shared the same room.
In the dead of night, when everyone had fallen asleep, Mei Lin struggled to sit up. She got out of bed, clutching the knife, and approached Luo Mei’s bed.
“I know what you want... I’ll give it to you,” she whispered to the person lying in bed. Then, she suddenly raised the knife and stabbed downward.
A muffled groan escaped as the person seemed to have been struck. In an instant, she sprang from the bed and struck Mei Lin in the chest with a powerful blow.
When the people in the mansion were awakened by the screams and rushed into the room, they saw Luo Mei unconscious and covered in blood on the bed, while Mei Lin lay collapsed on the floor in front of the bed, clutching the bloodstained knife, with no breath left in her body.
0 Comments